ONTARIO – Kobe Bryant wanted to prove a point near the end of the Lakers’ scrimmage Tuesday afternoon in El Segundo. He soared toward the rafters, over Antawn Jamison and delivered a thunderous dunk, a payback for a slight earlier in the workout.

Bryant’s dunk only bruised Jamison’s ego.

It ended up causing Bryant a good deal more physical pain.

Bryant went home and his right shoulder began to throb later in the evening. He underwent treatment Wednesday, but could not play in the Lakers’ 93-75 exhibition loss to the Portland Trail Blazers at the Citizens Business Bank Arena.

Sitting out was an easy decision.

Bryant went to Lakers coach Mike Brown and told him he might not play.

Brown said, “All right. Done. I’m not risking anything.”

So, Bryant joined Dwight Howard and Jordan Hill in skipping the second of the Lakers’ eight exhibition games. Howard and Hill were ruled out because of back troubles. Howard had surgery in April and Hill is out because of a herniated disc.

Bryant said he could be back in the starting lineup for Saturday’s exhibition against the Utah Jazz at Staples Center. He also said he would play with no hesitation if Wednesday’s exhibition were a regular-season game.

“He’s a tough cat,” Brown said of Bryant, who has played all but 17 games over the last five seasons, missing seven in 2011-12 because of a shin injury. “It’s the coach’s decision to hold him out. He always champs at the bit to play.”

In fact, after Bryant told Brown he might not play Wednesday, their conversation continued.

According to Brown, it went something like this:

Bryant: “What if I want to fight you on it?”

Brown: “It’s done.”

Bryant: “Oh, it’s like that?”

Brown: “It is like that.”

Brown said it’s important to make Bryant sit out when it’s necessary.

“I remember in training camp last year he turned his ankle really bad and I told him to go sit down,” Brown recalled. “He tied his shoe, and when I wasn’t paying attention, he was back on the court playing. He’s just weird like that.”

This time, Bryant sat in the locker room and underwent further treatment.

He also held an extended and very lighthearted session with reporters.

Bryant talked about learning to surf with his daughters. He said he enjoyed the Lakers’ annual October barnstorming tour of California and southern Nevada. He spoke about jelling with new Lakers point guard Steve Nash.

Bryant also couldn’t resist taking another shot or two at former teammate and frequent punching bag Smush Parker, saying, “I told Steve, `You were winning the MVP and playing with (Leandro) Barbosa (in 2005-06) and I was playing with Smush Parker.”‘

“Smush Parker was the worst,” Bryant continued without pausing as a pack of reporters howled along with him. “He shouldn’t have even been in the NBA. We were too cheap to afford a real point guard. So, we let him walk on.”

Blazers beat Lakers

Jodie Meeks started in place of Bryant and scored six points on only 1-for-7 shooting in 23 minutes, 52 seconds as the Lakers’ second, third and fourth units fell apart in the second half for the second consecutive game.

Portland outscored the Lakers 49-31 after halftime.

Nash led the Lakers (0-2) with 13 points and Metta World Peace added 12 points.

LaMarcus Aldridge and Damian Lillard each scored 14 for the Trail Blazers (1-0).

Elliott Teaford covers the Anaheim Ducks for the Orange County Register and the Southern California News Group. He covered the Ducks for 12 years, including the Stanley Cup season, for the Los Angeles Times and the Daily Breeze before returning to the beat in 2018 for SCNG. He also covered the Lakers for five seasons, including their back-to-back NBA championships in 2009 and '10. He once made a jump shot over future Utah Jazz center Mark Eaton during a pickup game in 1980 at Cypress College.